A Field Guide to the Pests in Your Apartment

Published: May 20, 2012

Pests

What's the Damage?

What You Can Do

What the Professionals Do

Freakout Scale

Cockroaches

Cockroaches have six tiny feet that carry myriad micro-organisms, which are left behind on your kitchen work surfaces each time the roach moves from its nest (in the wall) to a food source (crumbs by the toaster) and back again. They are a major spreader of disease. And as if that weren't enough, they are also a trigger for asthma.

Your best bet is to block the bugs from entering your apartment. Seal up the cracks, crevices and spaces around pipes -- gas lines behind the stove, water pipes in the bathroom -- with steel wool or expandable foam. Then kill the stragglers with an insecticide bait.

The pros will do everything you can do, but they will most likely do it better. They are trained to find and fill all the fissures in your apartment, including unsealed cracks in your floorboards and oversized holes around radiator pipes. They will also look in the basement for possible points of entry.

Bedbugs

Surprisingly to some, bedbugs don't actually carry diseases. But they do feed off your blood, and can decorate your legs and arms with bites that can itch like crazy. Much of the damage is psychological and social -- how many feet did you step back when your co-worker told you about his bedbug infestation?

Call a professional. You're looking at possibly replacing your mattress, and heat-treating all clothes and linens in your home. This needs to be done right the first time, and it can be expensive.

You should buy a cover for your

mattress.

Many pros use trained dogs to help sniff out the bedbugs. That way treatment can be targeted. Portable steamers are brought in with special nozzles and attachments to heat-treat soft surfaces. Afterward, dead bugs and eggs are vacuumed up. Upholstered furniture also needs to be treated.

Rats and Mice

Rats and mice spread disease by urinating on your stovetop and defecating in your pantry. They can carry the plague, Lyme disease, rat-bite fever and salmonella.

No food, no rodents. Mice need less than a 10th of an ounce of food every 24 hours -- a crumb. So keep your kitchen (or the couch, if that's where you snack) as clean as a hospital operating room. Take the garbage out. Clean behind the fridge. Then seal up those cracks and crevices, and, for good measure, set a few traps.

If there is a buildingwide infestation, keeping your own space clean and sealed off is not going to stop mice or rats from living in your walls, or even chewing through those walls. Pest control specialists will work with your super on eliminating the infestation, and preventing another.

Ants

Some ants like to burrow into soft, moist wood, so windowsills are attractive home bases. Your pantry could become as popular as a hot dog stand in Times Square.

Sweep, mop, vacuum, rinse -- and repeat. If there's nothing to eat, then ants will close up shop. Seal up points of entry, like electrical outlets. Place dry goods in airtight containers. The type of bait you use depends on the species of ant. (Carpenter or pavement ants are common in New York City, although others live here, too.)

The pros will first look for where the ants are entering your apartment, and the building itself. Tree branches can create bridges to window ledges, for instance. The experts can also properly identify the species of ant doing the infesting. Knowing that is key to knowing what type of bait to use to kill off colonies.

Termites

For such small creatures, termites can pack a hefty punch in the damage department. An unchecked termite colony eating through the joists and beams of a building, as well as the flooring, paneling and wallboard, can cause thousands of dollars of destruction. Apartments on low floors are primarily affected.

It is not recommended that the average homeowner tackle a termite problem.

The first task is to inspect the perimeter of the building. Then workers will drill tiny holes around the base of the building, and inject an insecticide into the ground. Termites will then track through it and take it back to the colony, effectively delivering the poison to their compatriots.

Silverfish and

House Centipedes

These two don't present major health problems, but they are extremely creepy-looking, especially house centipedes, which move at lightning speed on 15 pairs of banded legs. They have a painful bite like a bee's.

They like damp and dark spaces, so bathrooms are quite popular. So are the spaces around a radiator or air-conditioner. Eliminate any sources of moisture. If you live in a garden apartment, get rid of the dead leaves outside. Silverfish just love dead leaves.

Professionals will do what you would do, but if the problem persists, they will clean yet again and apply an appropriate insecticide.

Bees and Wasps

Wasps and carpenter bees are the most common. They can sting, and some people are allergic. In houses, carpenter bees act something like termites. They don't eat wood, but they will burrow into beams to nest.

In the old cartoons, it always seemed that Winnie the Pooh got away with knocking down a hive and eating the honey. In real life, it is best to call in a professional.

Treatment is usually done around dusk -- when all the bees or wasps have returned home from their day's work. The pros can either poison the nest or vacuum the whole thing up. Afterward they will seal up the hole to make sure no new bees get any wise ideas.

Clothing moths and Pantry Beetles

The clothing moth will chew holes in that favorite sweater you've had since high school, and pantry beetles will move into your cupboards in droves, camping out in your cereal, flour and other dry goods.

Throw away infected food, and put new dry goods in airtight containers. Dry-clean all of your clothes, to kill the eggs. Then open up a jar of elbow grease. Scrub your shelves -- the corners, the undersides, the hinges -- with hot soapy water.

The professionals will do what you would do. And if the pests come back, they will do it again and apply insecticide to eradicate any stragglers.

Pigeons

Like their friends, the rodents, pigeons have droppings that can carry disease and odors, and in general be unsightly. The mites they carry in their feathers can get into your home. And they nest on window ledges and sometimes in the space underneath window air-conditioners.

Remove their nests and wash the area thoroughly. Set up bird spikes to stop them from coming back. You can buy these from your local hardware store.

Some pros specialize in bird control. They can remove the droppings from air-conditioners, ledges and eaves. They can also install spikes and netting to prevent roosting.